According to Google Trends, but also according to Distrowatch, our own statistics here at OSNews and overall sense of the industry during 2006, Ubuntu has a big leap in mind share ahead of its competition (please note that we don't dare to say "market share", although we are pretty confident that it's the most used Linux desktop out there today). The second Fedora has a very small edge ahead of SuSe (while in US is a clear second), while Debian is following fourth. Mandrake+Mandriva (add both names on Google Trends and then sum the results) is clearly way below the previous four distros, but a clear 5th nonetheless. Last year Ubuntu was only a bit ahead of the other distros worldwide, but 2006 seems to have skyrocketed the distribution in the people's minds and computers.

Both. I started using Ubuntu after using Debian for years. Then I switched to Kubuntu. If I stayed with it is because it works fine for me, not because it is popular. But popularity helps a lot: there's more developers available to work on it, more users to report bugs, etc.

n other ways - a resounding NO! Oh come ON!! Grow up. This isn't like a high school popularity contest. Uboingo is popular because for many it erases many of the issues that have kept people form using desktop Linux for so long. I am sick of people arguing that if they want to use linux they should take 4 or 5 IT courses, learn bash scripting, become masters of Vi or Vim, understand partitioning tables, refresh rates and video frequencies just to install a Distro.If its ease of use and installation bother you because it doesn't make you feel 37334 enough use something else. Popularity is bad. Rubbish!!

I am sick of people arguing that if they want to use linux they should take 4 or 5 IT courses, learn bash scripting, become masters of Vi or Vim, understand partitioning tables, refresh rates and video frequencies just to install a Distro.If its ease of use and installation bother you because it doesn't make you feel 37334 enough use something else.

The only people I ever hear saying "if people want to learn linux they should" do everything you said are people who claim linux users say that.

n other ways - a resounding NO! Oh come ON!! Grow up. This isn't like a high school popularity contest. Uboingo is popular because for many it erases many of the issues that have kept people form using desktop Linux for so long. I am sick of people arguing that if they want to use linux they should take 4 or 5 IT courses, learn bash scripting, become masters of Vi or Vim, understand partitioning tables, refresh rates and video frequencies just to install a Distro.If its ease of use and installation bother you because it doesn't make you feel 37334 enough use something else. Popularity is bad. Rubbish!!